ProgressNow Nevada Blog

Our fantastic organizer and communications director has gotten enough hands-on experience in the past several years to earn five degrees.

But today, Michael Flores, makes it official and earns his BA from UNLV.

We couldn't be prouder of this terrific accomplishment, made possible through his hard work, tenacity and familial support. But what truly stands out about Michael's graduation today is that he didn't just work for it in the classroom, he fought for it for years, starting on campus and working the issue front and center in Carson City.

Congratulations Mike! Your future is bright. And you've helped make a future for so many of your classmates.

We're honored to work with you and can't wait to see what you become.

We've known for years that John Lee isn't progressive and probably isn't even a Democrat anymore.

He only half-jokes when he talks about switching parties.

Lee lives with Republicans, votes with them, sponsors their bills, and now, he's decided that he needs Republicans to give him issue and campaign advice. That's why he hired Ryann Juden to run his political business.

Don't believe me, listen to Lee talk about him.

Juden is a Republican operative.

He's vehemently pro-life.

He's vehemently anti-Democrat.

Juden even writes against foreclosure programs, despite having his own foreclosure.

He's anti-gay (see #291). 

Juden is also a director of Danny Tarkanian's anti-Harry Reid organization. This is what Juden's been working on.

He's John Lee's top man. Doesn't that make you wonder exactly what kind of Democrat John Lee is.

There's a clear choice in the primary for SD1. And John Lee's GOP-led campaign isn't it

We're a non-partisan organization, but we typically find that our issues run into roadblocks from those on the right.

In Carson City, that can be a different story. When we advocate with our partners for social justice, equality, environmental progress and public safety, we often find that speaking to the state senator in District 1 is as good as talking to Sharron Angle.

That's why this year, we decided it's time to send a message to the Democrats who've abandoned us.

Myself and two of our board members registered the Nevada Priorities PAC for the express purpose of educating voters in Senate District 1 about John Lee. This effort is independent of any candidate's campaign for District 1.

Patricia Spearman, who is running against Lee in the primary, is one of dozens of our members seeking office this year.

But our business this election year is with Mr. Lee. We've begun to explain his horrible record for voters on the PAC's new Facebook page.

And if you're headed to the Clark County Convention today, feel free to stop by our table for more information.

Conventional wisdom is Las Vegas is a young city that only came into its prime in the late 20th Century. That's not entirely true.

Thousands of years ago the Vegas Valley area had all kinds of activity as pre-historic creatures and plantlife flourished. Back then the land area we now know as Southern Nevada was much closer to the equator and had a drastically different environment than what we know today.

Flash forward to the present day where thanks to those ancient animals thoughtful decision to die en mass in our backyard, Las Vegas has the opporunity to have a world class paleontology site that would serve to further diversify our tourist options.

Tule Springs in northwest Las Vegas is a world-renowned mammoth fossil site. In 1962 National Geographic documented a "Big Dig" at Tule Springs. The significant four-month study cataloged thousands of Ice Age mammal fossils including Columbian Mammoth, Ground Sloth, American Lion, Camelops, Bison and ancient species of Horse.

Growth in Las Vegas Valley extending to the Upper Las Vegas Wash (along with illegal dumping and unauthorized vehicles in the area) resulted in several studies over the past few years commissioned by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies.  The studies pointed out literally hundreds of surface fossil sites in the area and identify three unique and endangered plants - the Las Vegas buckwheat, Merriam's bearpoppy and the Las Vegas bearpoppy.

In April 2009, the exceptional attributes of Tule Springs were again substantiated when a small team of scientists was dispatched to the site to evaluate Tule Springs potential as a National Monument.  The ensuing report recommended, "the area should definitely receive protection to preserve the fossil resources."  It also said this location holds opportunities to attract visitors from all over the world as well as provide recreational and educational pursuits to Nevada residents.

Join us today - sign our open letter to President Barack Obama urging him to act decisively to protect cultural treasures and irreplaceable public lands for this and future generations to enjoy. Our economic future and the well-being of our communities depend on decisive action now.

Ask President Obama to act now!

You may have seen the TV ads running the last few months between Station Casinos and the Culinary Union and wondered what the heck is going on.

The Culinary Union is trying to organize the workers at Station Casinos so they can receive the same benefits of union membership (better wages, job security, better healthcare, etc) as thousands of other hotel and casino workers in the valley. The owners of Station Casinos are very staunchly opposed to this.

So far Culinary has been hesitant to call for an official boycott of Stations, but that hasn't stopped some of their labor allies from walking up to that line.

This week the Southern Nevada Building & Construction Trades Council put out a memo to its members explaining why it's important for them to support their brothers and sisters in the Culinary Union and not spend money at Station Casinos right now.

I don't know if this qualifies as an official call for a "boycott" as the term doesn't show up anywhere in the memo and I believe there are legal ramifications for using it, but it is still a strong show of solidarity from organized labor.

Below is a copy of the memo:

Why Not Go to Station Casinos